While at university, he met Paul Langlois, Rob Baker, Gord Sinclair and Johnny Fray, and they formed The Tragically Hip, which started out as a cover band. He said his "Secret Path" project was aimed at Canada's decades-long government policy of requiring aboriginal children to attend residential schools, where physical and sexual abuse was often rampant.īorn in Amherstview, Ontario, Downie said he "always had a keen ear for music" and while all the other kids were spending their allowance on baseball trading cards, he was buying records "from the fathers of rock 'n' roll." on the lips," the Downie family said in a statement.ĭuring his final show, Downie called out to Trudeau, who attended the concert, to help fix problems in Canada's aboriginal communities.Ī few months after that concert, Downie released a solo album with an accompanying graphic novel and animated film inspired by the tragedy of state-funded church schools that Canadian aboriginal children were forced to attend from the 19th century until the 1970s. "God knew this day was coming - his response was to spend his precious time as he always had - making music, making memories and expressing deep gratitude to his family and friends for a life well lived, often sealing it with a kiss.
But through it all, Downie remained the consummate showman, rocking out on stage in distinctive leather suits.
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Millions tuned in.ĭownie later said that he needed six teleprompters during the concert series so he would not forget lyrics. Tickets for the 2016 summer tour sold out almost immediately, culminating in a national broadcast of the band's final tour stop at Kingston, Ontario. That same day, the band said it would mount a Canadian tour despite Downie's cancer. When the band made the news public the following May, expressions of sorrow poured in from across the country. While Canadian musicians Drake, the Weeknd and Justin Bieber have made waves internationally, the Tragically Hip built a huge following of die-hard homegrown fans.ĭownie was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an aggressive and incurable brain cancer, in December 2015. "Ahead by a Century" and "Bobcaygeon" are among the best known. Since The Tragically Hip's first album in 1987, the band has provided a soundtrack for the lives of many Canadians. Gord Downie, who made himself part of Canada's national identity with songs about hockey and small towns as lead singer and songwriter of iconic rock band The Tragically Hip, has died at age 53 after a battle with brain cancer.Ī statement on the band's website said he died Tuesday night "with his beloved children and family close by." The statement did not give a cause of death, though he had been diagnosed earlier with brain cancer. “We are less as a country without Gord Downie in it.” “He loved every hidden corner, every story, every aspect of this country that he celebrated his whole life.” Gord was my friend, but Gord was everyone’s friend, it’s who we were, our buddy Gord, who loved this country with everything he had.” “We lost one of the very best of us this morning. Justin Trudeau, 23rd Prime Minister of Canada, in tears he did not wipe away, remembered Gord Wednesday morning.
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